Our cases
The figures and the issues
During 2019-2020, the top three primary issues customers contacted us about were billing, credit and provision, which was the same as in 2018-2019.
Billing remains the most common issue that customers contact us about, accounting for 52 per cent of the complaints we closed in 2019-2020.
Credit-related issues such as payment difficulties or disconnection accounted for 18 per cent and provision 11 per cent of the complaints we closed.
Case any contact a customer has with EWOQ, including general enquiry, refer back to supplier, referral to higher level, investigation, or referral to another organisation.
Complaints these are cases that are billed to a scheme participant i.e. refer back to supplier, referral to higher level and investigations.
Closed complaints by primary issue
| Primary issue | 2015-16 | 2016-17 | 2017-18 | 2018-19 | 2019-20 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Billing | 3,388 | 3,326 | 4,071 | 3,232 | 3,109 |
| Credit | 1,467 | 1,265 | 1,311 | 1,130 | 1,075 |
| Provision | 340 | 380 | 882 | 732 | 655 |
| Customer service | 768 | 502 | 735 | 639 | 536 |
| Transfer | 192 | 173 | 466 | 344 | 199 |
| Supply | 168 | 161 | 183 | 151 | 154 |
| Land | 39 | 46 | 59 | 86 | 89 |
| Marketing | 31 | 20 | 58 | 52 | 49 |
| Other | 149 | 147 | 166 | 142 | 121 |
| Total complaints | 6,542 | 6,020 | 7,931 | 6,508 | 5,987 |
Top five closed complaints for 2019-2020
- Billing 52%
- Credit 18%
- Provision 11%
- Customer service 9%
- Transfer 3%
Top five primary issues of complaints closed
While the total number of complaints closed in 2019-2020 decreased by 8 per cent from 2018-2019, the complexity of cases closed by our office is increasing. This is evidenced by the growth of investigation cases and the decrease in refer back and general enquiries.
During this period, the number of refer backs decreased by 25 per cent and general enquiries decreased by 26 per cent. This shows the growing awareness of the role of the ombudsman in stepping in to help after customers have tried to resolve their complaint with their provider and of the types of complaints we handle.
While the overall number of cases we received in 2019-2020 declined, the complaints we close are increasingly complex. This is evidenced by the increasing number of investigations progressing from level 1 investigations to level 2 and level 3, which reflects the increased time spent by investigation and conciliation officers to resolve these issues.
In 2019-2020, we closed a total of 1897 investigations (up from 1640 in 2018-2019) with 475 closed as level 2 investigations and 90 closed as level 3 investigations. This is higher than 2018-2019 when we closed 1640 investigations with 423 closed as level 2 investigations and 72 closed as level 3 investigations.
Cases related to COVID-19
There were 155 cases related to COVID-19 during 2019-2020.
- 39% related to the utility bill relief rebate
- 8% related to job loss or reduced work hours.
Read more in the annual report.
See the official copy of the 2019-20 annual report, as tabled in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland, on the Queensland Parliament's tabled papers website.